Automatic container filling device



g- 1946. T. A. ST. CLAIR ETAL 2,406,263

AUTOMATIC CONTAINER FILLING DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1944 2 SheetsSheet 1 lNVENTOR Theodore A fif-clqn Carl F 6l'ever5 BY Andrew Rolso ATT NEY$ 1946- T. A. sT. CLAIR ET AL 2,406,263

AUTOMATIC CONTAINER FILLING DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR heodore A-Sf'ZClG/r' Carl F- slevera Andrfl R-Olsom Patented Aug. 20, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE R... Olson,

Bartlesville, Okla,

assignors to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Application December 5, 1944, Serial No. 566,672

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an automatic mechanism for filling enclosed pressure vessels with a volatile liquid.

A more specific, detailed object of the invention is to provide a system which is completely automatic, and of special utility in filling liquefied petroleum gas cylinders. The use of these cylinders has been actively developed as a method of distributing propane for household heating purposes and involves the use of a small portable cylinder of about 20 pounds propane capacity. One such Well known system is the Philgas selfservice system.

In the maintenance of such systems, it has been an important function thereof to provide facilities for refilling large numbers of these small cylinders daily, in order to meet the customers requirements. The operation of filling the cylinders has in general, in the past, been done manually, and the labor cost involved in filling alone amounts to a considerable sum, which cost, of course, is reflected in the customers price paid for such gas service.

In manually filling these cylinders, the operators have been required to place the cylinders individually on platform type scales, make connection manually between the charge line and the cylinder, set the scale beam to the desired weight, turn on the charging line, turn off the charging line when the cylinder has reached the correct gross weight, and disconnect and remove the cylinder. For the automatic system herein disclosed, the operator need only place the cylinders on the scales, establish a preliminary connection between the respective filling head and cylinder by a simple one hand manual operation, press a control button, go on to other work, and when the cylinder is automatically filled and the filling apparatus automatically disconnected and swung out of the way, return to merely lift the properly filled cylinders off each scale which has signaled that the cylinder on it is filled. The signal is given by the automatic tilting of the large area fiat top or other portions of the filling head, which tilting occurs due to gravity upon said disconnection. A large number of these container filling devices may be used in rows in a single room with one man rapidly placing cylin-, ders on the scales and pushing the starting button and picking up filled cylinders as automatically indicated, no judgment nor adjustment by the operator being needed. The scale beam can be set to a fixed weight at the start and never changed, as the cylinders plus their intended load always weigh substantially the same. The filling of the cylinders to a final predetermined weight is accomplished without conscious supervision by the operator, by reason of the use of an automatically operating device shutting off the flow of fluid and causing disconnection of the cylinder from the charging head, when the correct weight has been reached.

The system herein disclosed is related to and involves improvements upon a similar system disclosed in copending application Serial 448,022, filed June 12, 1942, for Automatic cylinder filling device.

One object of this invention is to provide a means for filling a container with a given weight of fluid.

Another object is to provide means connected with a container by an easy manual operation and easily actuated to automatically fill said container with a given weight of fluid and then automatically disconnect said container and signal that said container is filled.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a charging head and a power operator therefor by means of which a gastight connection with the cylinder is automatically effected.

A still more specific object of the invention is to provide a simplified and improved form of charging head and means for effecting cooperative association of it with the power actuating device.

Other and more detailed objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description of a complete embodiment.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts as will be described in detail below.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the cylinder to be charged, the scales and associated parts;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the association of the elements of the system oi this invention and the operation thereof with all parts in elevation;

Figure 4 is a vertical, central, cross-sectional view through the charging head and power actuator;

Figure 5 is a Vertical, central, cross-sectional view through the relay valve and actuating mechanism;

Figure 6 is a vertical, central, cross-sectional View through the valve which prevents undesired recess in the nipple 38 is a threaded inlet passage l8 formed in the sleeve 34. Slidably mounted in the nipple is a valve stem 42 having mounted on its inner end a resilient valve member 43. The valve stem 42 fluted or longitudinally grooved provides for adequate flow of liquid past it from the passage 18 to the point of discharge at the end face of the head 39. The mouth of the counterbore in the sleeve 34 is closed by means of a washer 3?, held therein in any suitable manner, as for example, by means of a snap ring, forming a stop against which the enlarged head 22 engages when the charging head unit slides under its own weight on the push rod 22, as it is free to do when released.

The relay valve and associated equipment is shown in Figure 5. It includes a housing com.- prising the parts 55 and 57, which are secured together in sealing relation with respect to the periphery of a flexible diaphragm 55, dividing the adjacent portions of the housing into the lower compartment 53 and the upper compartment 59. The lower compartment is normally vented to atmosphere through several ports 6|. Pressure fluid is supplied to the compartment 59 through the threaded passage :89. The upper housing part 51 is provided with a projection terminating in a threaded boss 60, having a passage therethrough, in which is mounted any suitable form of valve which is normally held closed by means of a spring built therein. This valve is of the same type as is commonly used in the adapter 22 of the cylinder 19, and is of the so-called tire valve type, fully disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,172,311. A thimble 16 is threadedly mounted on the boss 6i! and serves to house a push button member 80, around which pressure fluid may escape to the atmosphere when this member is depressed to open valve 19, as will be described again later, The housing part 56 has a depending extension, with a passage therethrough 01 several diiferent diameters. The portion of largest diameter forms a compartment 66 in which a twoway valve member 62 may operate. This member a valve 54 at the lower end,- and a valve 53 at the upper end. The valve 64 cooperates with a resilient seat 68, controlling the flow of fluid from a pipe in communication with the connector 53 opening into this chamber and a pipe in communication with the connector 12. A compression spring H normally urges the memher in a direction to unseat the valve 64. The upper end of the compartment 66 is closed by a removable plate '58 to which is attached a resilient valve seat overlying the area of the plate forming the end wall of compartment 65. The resilient washer 61 is attached to plate 69 in any suitable manner, as by cementing, vulcanizing, or otherwise. The valve member 62 is of hexagonal or other cross-sectional shape at the area forming the seat for the upper end of spring H so as to provide passages therearound. The valve member 62 has a stem attached to a backup plate 12 engaging the lower face of the diaphragm 55.

The mechanism for preventing repetition of the recharging operation, or a tendency to repeat the operation when a cylinder is filled and being removed from the scales. is shown in Figure 6. It comprises a housing having upper and lower parts, secured together, and clamping between them in sealing relation a flexible diaphragm 9|. The diaphragm SH divides this housing into the upper compartment 89 and the lower compartment 9!). Communication with the upper compartment is established by means of pipes connected to the fixtures 92 and 88. Communication with the lower compartment is had through the threaded port 99". Cemented or otherwise secured to the diaphragm 9i is a backup plate 93 having a fluted extension 91 extending downwardly to provide a flow passage therearound. This extension is adapted to cooperate with a nor mally closed spring loaded tire type of valve assembly 95, such as disclosed in the above men tioned patent. This valve controls a passage in the lower part of the housing to which is con nected a pipe, as will be explained later, by means of the adapter 94.

The scale beam actuated valve is shown in Figure '7. Pivotally attached to the beam, as will be seen from Figure 3, is a valve member l3 having mounted therein in a suitable manner, a resilient seat 85. This seat cooperates with a nozzle 82 having a bore 83 of larger diameter than the restricted bore 84 in communication therewith, and opening at the seating face or end of the nozzle 82. This nozzle is mounted at any convenient part of the scales, by means of a fixture 86 having a threaded engagement therewith for longitudinal adjustment with respect to the valve disc 85.

The system is shown in Figure 3, A pipe Hi3 establishes communication from any suitable high pressure source to the relay valve through the connector 12. A suitable pressure for this source is of the order of 8 pounds per square inch, and of course, the line I03 may include a suitable shut off valve. Low pressure air from another source, having a pressure of the order of 2 pounds per square inch, is supplied to an adjustable needle valve 99 through the line I06, which likewise may include a shut off valve, if desired. The discharge end of the needle valve 99, which. may be of any suitable construction, is connected by a pipe I09 to the threaded passage I09, of the relay valve assembly 23, and to the threaded passage 99" of the element 25. The connector 13 of the relay valve is connected by pipe [535 to the connector 92 of th element 26. The connector 88 of this element is connected by pipe I M to the connector 35 of the power actuator. The connector 94 of .the element 2B is connected by pipe I08 to the nozzle tube 82, and includes an emergency shutoff valve It of any suitable construction. The liquid propane supply source, not shown, is connected by the line is to the port IQ of the charging head, and this line may include a suitable shut 01? valve, as will be obvious.

In .the operation of this system an empty cylinder i9 is placed on the loading platform and properly positioned, as previously described, so that its valved adapter 22 is in position to be engaged by the charging head, when the power unit is pivoted clockwise (as shown in Figure 2) about its supporting pin 31 from an inactive rest position to an intermediate active position. As this operation takes place the conical seating head 39 is moved into the adapter 22, and the spring loaded washer 4n engages on the end face of the adapter (see Fig. 8). It will be understood that at this time spring 33 of the power unit holds the parts controlled thereby in the position shown in Figure 4, and that the sleeve 2! will have slid down on the push rod 22, so that its head 22 engages the under face of .the Washer or closure member 31. Thus as the power unit is moved into position the sleeve 2! may have relative movement on the push rod 22 by sliding thereon towards the extension 38. Valve 43 is held closed by the pressure of the liquid propane on the resilient valve member 43. Pipes i8 and IM are preferably flexible hose so as not to unduly restrain the movements of the power unit.

It is assumed, of course, that high and low pressure is being supplied to the apparatus by the lines W3 and Hit respectively. High pressure air flows up to the closed valve 64 which is held closed in the following manner. Low pressure air bleeds through the needle valve 99 and the branch pipe I09 so as to create such a pressure in chamber 59 of the relay valve and charm ber 90 of the control element 26 (Fig. 6) as to hold valve 64 seated against the resistance of spring H, and to hold diaphragm ill in the po sition shown in Figure 6, so that the actuator 81 for the valve 95 is out of engagement therewith. As previously stated, valve 55 is normally closed by means of a spring built into it. It is also helpful to note that with the empty cylinder 19 on the platform I2, the scale beam i3, due to the adjustment of the weights I l thereon, will be in such position as to cause the valve disc 35 to disengage the end of th nozzle 32. Thus, with the parts in this position it will be seen that low pressure air is trapped in chainbers 59 and fill.

To begin fillir' the cylinder it the operator filfill'lfilll l. the finger button opening e nor ally closed valve (Fig. and venting chamber to atmosphere around the finger button. in view of the presence of the needle valve in the low pressure supply line let, it will be seen that the pressure in chamber quickly falls to atmospl'ieric pressure, or substantially so, since the flow capacity around the finger button 3 is greater than the flow capac iiy of the isted needle valve The reduction of pressure in chamber 59 allows spring ii to iseat valve 5% and seat valve against the resilient Thus communication is establi "ed between the high pro: urc line 1513 and 1' l supplying high pressure air to chamber in the element iii; thmugh the line As a result diaphragm. moves downwardly and the valve actuator Ell open valve establishing communication between line H.255 and line Hi8 which now open to atmosphere through the restrictel p. t Thus low pressure can escape to atere and not build up a pressure in chameven though the push button is only entarily actuated, and as a result valve 79 y opened for a short time. The high pres-- also flows from compartment 39 through 2 into the power device ill, building up ure in the chamber 13 (Fig. 1) and causing 95 to move downwardly. This move" of the dia carrie the push rod 22' .vnwardly until it engages the end of the counterb th sleeve fter which it causes this to move downwardly compressing spring ii and causing the conical head to engage in the cooperating seat of the adapter t2 ider iii (see Fig. 8).

on the As this movement conti hes, the valve e .m engages the stem of the tire alvc in the adapter so that full downward movement of the sleeve lid causes valve 3?; to unand engage the upper end of the valve compertinent it is in, wh reby further downward movement of sleeve is transmitted through valve it and stem t? to the stem of the tire valve in. the adapter 22 forcing said tire valve into open position, thereby establishing communication between the empty cylinder Iii and the propane liquid supply line 18. The cylinder begins to fill and during the period of filling all of the parts remain in their operated position, as described.

When the cylinder is filled with liquid in the proper amount, as determined by the adjustment of the weights i l on the scale beam 83, the scale beam will move in a clockwise direction (Fig. 3) until the valve disc (Fig 7) closes the restricted port 3d, interrupting the escape of low pressure air to the atmosphere. As a result, pressure builds up in the compartment 59 of the relay valve 23%, closing valve 54 against the action of swing ll. Compartment 58 of the relay valve vented to atmosphere through the port 6| not interfere with this operation, and any n pressure air that escapes past the now open valve 53 during this transitional period can also escape to atmosphere so as not to create any pr ssure compartment 53 on the underside of the diaphragm Thus valve is properly closed cutting off the sup-ply of high pressure air from line M3 through line N35 to compartment of the element 255, and hence, interrupting the supply of air under pressure in the upper face of diaphragm 29 in the actuator ll. Pipes I05 and IE4, and chamber are vented to atmosphere past the valve seat 3? and the port 6!, in an obvious manner. Pressure can therefore build up under diaphragm iii raising the actuator t for valve 95, and permitting it to be closed by its spring. The venting of chamber 43, in the power actuator, to atmosphere through line 104 allows compressed spring to raise the actuator rod Ell whose enlarged 22 engages the shoulder between the counterbore sections in the sleeve 34, due to a clockwise torque (as seen in 4) around pivot iii (caused by the center of gravity of 363 being to the right of, and thereby having an effective lever arm around the pivot 3 l) which torque always causes said engagement, so that the sleeve is raised upwardly, disengagthe valve stem and actuator 42 from the tire valve in the adapter 22 so that the pressure of the liquid propane on the valve 63 can seat and seal it. Thus the supply of propane to the cyl- IE3 is cut off. At the same time the power actuator i! is de-energized and spring 33 kicks the charging head 34 upwardly until it clears adapter 22 of cylinder [9. The power actuated iii then swing head ti t back out of the way under it automatically due to gravity and the cfiset pivot 3|. The position of actuator I"! serve; as a signal to show that the cylinder IQ is filled and is disconnected. Cylinder iii may be removed and a new empty cylinder replaced starting the cycle over again. The sleeve lid is then manually moved so that the enlarged head 22 may slide up into the reduced portion of the counterbore and the charging head for the next operation which, of course, is repeated for each cylinder to be nlled.

The valve I fit is merely provided to shut oil? the low pressure air leakage through the nozzle 82, if at any time during the filling of a cylinder, it is desired to interrupt the filling thereof. The result of the closing of valve Hill is exactly the 2e as the closing of the restricted passage lid in the nozzle.

From the above description it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the subject matter of this invention is capable of some modification, and embodiment in other physical forms, without departure from the novel subject matter and scope thereof, and we do not, therefore, de-

sire to be strictly limited to the embodiment selected for purposes of illustration, but rather to the scope of protection granted us in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device as described comprising a sleeve having a seating member, a valved passage in said sleeve and seating member, an actuator for said sleeve having a push rod slidably connected to said sleeve, and a spring for normally holding said rod in retracted position.

2. In the combination of claim 1, said actuator being pressure fluid operated having a mem- :ber connected to said push rod for moving it into pushing engagement with said sleeve.

3. In the combination of claim 1, said sleeve having a passage therein forming a shoulder and said push rod having an enlarged head operating in said passage for engagement with said shoulder.

4. In the combination of claim 1, said actuator being pressure fluid operated, said sleeve having a. passage forming a shoulder, and said push rod having an enlarged head for operation in said passage and engaging said shoulder upon de-energization of said actuator.

5. In an apparatus for filling containers with fluid under pressure, the combination including a fluid supply line, a charging head constructed to effect sealing engagement with a container to be filled, said charging head including a valve connected to said supply line and normally closed by the pressure of the fiuid therein, a power actuator for moving said charging head into sealing relation with the container to be filled, means for pivotally supporting said actuator, and resilient shock absorbing means for restraining the movement of said actuator in the sealing direction of said charging head.

6. A charging head for filling containers with fluid under pressure, comprising a power actuator having a push rod, a sleeve slidably mountt ed on said push rod, a passage in said sleeve, a

nipple mounted in said passage, a valve member cooperating with said nipple to normally close said passage under the pressure of fluid therein, and a spring biased engaging member mounted on said nipple.

7. In the combination of claim 6, said sleeve having a counterbore of different diameter to form a shoulder and said push rod having an enlarged head engageable with said shoulder.

THEODORE A. ST. CLAIR. CARL F. SIEVERS. ANDREW R. OLSON. 

